Category: Union Territory

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir administration is mulling to hold polls on vacant Panchayat seats in September this year.

Sources told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that that election on vacant Panchayat seats would be conducted in September-October and the notification for dates of elections will likely be issued in next few weeks.

Sources said that final electoral rolls are also being completed by the Chief Electoral Officer.

The Union territory government is considering holding polls on vacant Panchayat seats when there have been several attacks on Panches, Sarpanches and political workers in Kashmir. Many have fled their homes while the government has lodged some Panches and Sarpanches in hotels.

Sources said that the Chief Electoral Officer has also discussed with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha about holding of elections in September-October.

Sources said that issue is also being discussed with security agencies to ensure adequate security arrangements are in place. “Majority of seats remained vacant in Kashmir as no candidates were fielded in those constituencies. Most of these constituencies fall in south Kashmir,” the official said.

The Panchayat elections were conducted in November-December 2018 for 4483 Panchayats with a Sarpanch for each Panchayat Halqa and 35029 Panches in Jammu and Kashmir. However, there are over 60 percent Panchayat seats vacant in the new Union Territory.

In Kashmir out of 20093 Panch and Sarpanch seats, only 6162 Panches and 1366 Sarpanches were elected in the polls while 12565 constituencies have remained vacant.
In Jammu, 15800 Panches and 2289 Sarpanches were elected where 166 seats have remained vacant. While in Ladakh, 45 seats are vacant where 1414 Panches and 192 Sarpanches were elected.

The National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party boycotted the polls.

Elections for the Block Development Council were also conducted in Jammu and Kashmir. A top official of Rural Development Department said that the Centre has also directed Jammu and Kashmir administration to empower Panchayats to maximum level.(KINS)

Even as the multiple rounds of talks between India and China continue to resolve the Ladakh standoff, the Chinese army has started setting up 5G network in the border area along with enhanced structures at the Pangong Lake area.

As the dialogue process to find a resolution to the India-China standoff lingers on, Chinese enhancement of infrastructure close to the friction points in Ladakh has further intensified, including the setting up of 5G network near Demchok and fresh constructions at the Pangong Lake.

China is establishing 5G networks along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for better communication while preparations have been noticed near Demchok area since the first week of August, intelligence reports indicate.

Fresh construction has also been noticed at the Pangong Lake where Chinese troops continue to hold positions. New huts and sheds have come up even amid the talks for disengagement.

The India-China standoff is nearing four months after tensions broke out in early May.

Mobilisation of Chinese troops continue along LAC, promoting India to continue with the enhance troop deployment in Ladakh. Indian Army has increased its deployment by three times. The Army is all set to continue with the additional troops even in peak winter.

“The deployment will depend on constant reviews. Till there is no change in the situation the enhanced deployment will continue,” said an Army official.

NO BREAKTHROUGH FOR DISENGAGEMENT

After the initial disengagement situation did not change as Chinese troops continued with their presence on the ridgeline of Pangong Lake. Even on the shore of the lake, pullback has been minimal as the Chinese have moved back from Finger 4 to 5 but expect India also to retreat. The mountain spurs jutting out into the lake are referred as fingers in military parlance.

China’s condition that it will pull back from the finger area of Pangong Lake but this should also be reciprocated by India has made the situation more complex, sources said.

India too pulled back from Finger 4 where troops from both sides had been in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation but a further retreat is not acceptable to India. India has maintained that status quo ante as of April end must be restored but China’s reservations have led to a deadlock.

Between Finger 5 and 8, China has strengthened its positions, brought in more boats and also set up new pre-fabricated huts keeping in mind a winter deployment.

“China has been demanding that India will also have to move back further in Pangong Lake if it wants China to pull back. This has made the situation trickier as a further retreat by India would mean leaving an area that is under our control. This would change the status quo,” said an official.

There have been five rounds of talks at the Corps Commander level and a diplomatic dialogue also continues. Another round of military talks is expected soon, sources said.

While initial disengagement took place in Galwan and Patrol Point 15, Pangong Lake but Gogra-Hot Springs area, also known as Patrol Point 17A, continued to be volatile.

There have been several deliberations to decide the future strategy if the Chinese don’t move back. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat has also said if talks fail, India will think of military options. Frequent meetings have been taking place in the security establishment to review the situation along LAC in Ladakh.

With inputs from India Today

PTI

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday reported 546 fresh cases of coronavirus and seven more deaths due to the disease, officials said.

The union territory’s caseload stands at 36,377, while the death toll has mounted to 685.

“Seven people infected with coronavirus have died in Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours till 5.00 pm on Saturday,” the officials said.

Four deaths were recorded in Kashmir and three in Jammu.

Among the fresh cases, 214 were from the Jammu region, while 332 were from Kashmir, they said.

Jammu district reported the highest number of 134 new cases, followed by 102 in Srinagar, the officials said.

There are 7,672 active cases of the coronavirus disease in the union territory, while 28,020 patients have recovered so far, they said.

PTI

Leh: One more patient died of coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the death toll due to the disease in the union territory to 28, officials said on Saturday.

The patient, who was suffering from various ailments, died at a hospital in Leh district on Friday, they said.

This was the 10th COVID-related death in Leh district, while rest of the 18 fatalities had taken place in Kargil district since the outbreak of the disease in March.

Ladakh had so far recorded a total of 2,540 positive cases. While 1,742 patients have recovered and subsequently discharged, 798 are still undergoing treatment — 480 in Leh and 318 in Kargil, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, Tsering Motup has stressed for thorough screening and sample collection of each and every inbound passenger entering into Ladakh so that the suspected cases would be identified on spot and further course of action is taken in a proper manner.

Motup, along with Sub-divisional Magistrate Drass Asgar Ali and Chief Medical Officer, Kargil, Munawar Hussain Wazir, was inspecting the status of screening, testing and sample collection of inbound passengers traveling into Ladakh at Meenamarg, an official spokesman said.

He said the ADC asked officers concerned to take strict legal action against the inbound passengers not cooperating with the screening and sampling teams.

Keeping in view the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the administrations in both Kargil and Leh districts have intensified the process of screening, testing and sample collection.

PTI

Jammu: The Border Security Force (BSF) has detected a tunnel, originating from Pakistan, just beneath the Indo-Pak international border fence in Jammu, officials said on Saturday.

The force has launched a major search operation in the area to look for other such hidden structures that aid infiltration even as it analyses the about 3-4 feet wide structure that could be used for pushing terrorists and smuggling of narcotics and arms, they said.

BSF Director General Rakesh Asthana has directed his frontier commanders to ensure that the anti-infiltration grid is intact and there are no gaps along this front, they added.

The tunnel, about 50 metres from the border fence on the Indian side, was located by a BSF patrol on Thursday in the Galar area of Samba sector in Jammu.

The force found that 8-10 plastic sandbags stuffed in the tunnel’s mouth had “Pakistani markings” on them, officials told PTI.

A senior official said BSF troops got suspicious after noticing the sinking of earth at some places in a farmer’s field due to recent incessant rains.

An earth moving machine was immediately pressed into service to completely unearth the tunnel that is about 170 metres from the IB on the Indian side, the official said.

Spot inspection revealed that the tunnel was under-construction and about 20 feet-long, officials said.

The tunnel, as per sources, has a depth of about 25 feet at the opening and has been located near the ‘whaleback’ border post of the BSF.

BSF Inspector General (Jammu) N S Jamwal also visited the spot to oversee the operation, they said.

The green-coloured plastic bags have markings of ‘Karachi and Shakargarh’ factories on them and the bags have a manufacturing and expiry date embossed that indicate they have been manufactured recently, officials said.

The nearest Pakistani border post ‘Gulzar’ is about 700 meters from the tunnel, they said.

The BSF pointed at the “deep connivance” of Pakistan in aiding infiltration along this front.

“With this detection, alert BSF troops foiled the nefarious design of Pakistan to infiltrate terrorists into Indian territory. The tunnel’s origin is in Pakistan territory close to IB.”

“Efforts of alert BSF troops deployed in our multi-tiered counter-infiltration grid once again resulted in neutralising the evil designs of terrorists in deep connivance with Pak establishments,” the Jammu frontier of the force said in a statement.

There have been “regular inputs about the presence of terrorists in Pak border villages desperately looking for infiltration into Indian territory but vigilant BSF troops foiled desperate attempts of anti-national elements to infiltrate and carry out terrorist actions in India,” it said.

“Seeing the long tunnel, I can say that the Pakistan establishment surely has has a hand and has knowledge of it.

“The date mentioned on the sandbags suggest that the tunnel has been freshly dug. We are investigating it further,” Jamwal told reporters.

The force has been conducting a mega ‘anti-tunnel drive’ in the IB areas of Jammu and other places after five armed infiltrators were recently killed by it along this front in Punjab.

The entire BSF formation deployed across the 3,300 km International Border that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat is on extra alert as there are multiple intelligence inputs of terrorists trying to breach the IB and infiltrate into India, officials said.

The border force is also looking at deploying ground penetrating radars to detect tunnels along this sensitive front which is prone to infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan and cross-border smuggling of arms and narcotics.

Tunnels have been detected by the BSF along the Jammu border front earlier too.

The BSF, in June, had shot down a hexa-drone with a payload of five-and-a-half kilogram including a sophisticated US-Made M4 semi-automatic carbine and seven Chinese grenades along the Jammu IB in Kathua district.

Centre notifies functions of the Lt. Governor and the UT’s Council of Ministers.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha | File Photo | Photo Credit: PTI

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday notified new rules for administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that specify the functions of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Council of Ministers.

According to the transaction of business rules, “police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption,” will fall under the executive functions of the LG, implying that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.

The rules notified by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla say that proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect the peace and tranquility of the UT or the interest of any minority community, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes “shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders.”

The Council of Ministers, led by the Chief Minister will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers, proposal to impose new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislations.

Difference of opinion

However, in case of difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers,” the rules note.

On August 6, 2019, Parliament read down Article 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status of J&K and bifurcated and downgraded the State into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh; J&K with a legislative assembly. The erstwhile State has been Central rule since June 2018 and the elected Assembly was dissolved in November the same year. J&K has been without a chief minister since June 2018. According to requirements of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, fresh elections will be held after the delimitation exercise is completed next year.

The rules state that “any matter which is likely to bring the Government of the Union territory into controversy with the Central Government or with any State Government”, shall, as soon as possible, be brought to the notice of the LG and the Chief Minister by the secretary concerned through the Chief Secretary.

39 departments

As per the rules, there will be 39 departments in the UT such as school education, agriculture,higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs and transport.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while introducing the legislations in Parliament last year, said J&K’s Statehood would be restored soon.

The rules say all communications received from the Centre, including those from the Prime Minister and other Ministers, other than those of a routine or unimportant character, shall, as soon as possible after their receipt, be submitted by the secretary to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the Chief Minister and the LG for information.

“Any matter, which is likely to bring the government of the Union Territory into a controversy with the Centre or a State government, shall, as soon as possible, be brought to the notice of the LG and the Chief Minister by the secretary concerned through the Chief Secretary,” they add.

With inputs from The Hindu

PTI

Srinagar: A 28-year-old man was on Friday arrested by security forces after he tried to snatch a CRPF jawan’s rifle in Nowhatta area of the city, police said.

Tehreen Shabir Dar, a resident of Peerbagh area on the outskirts of the city, was overpowered by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head constable Samrinder near Nowhatta chowk when he tried to snatch the service rifle from the jawan, a police officer said.

Dar was later handed over to the local police and booked under relevant sections of the law.

“A police team conducted searches at his residence at Peerbagh but did not find anything incriminating against the youth,” the officer said.

The family members of the man alleged that he was mentally unstable but had no evidence to back their claim, the officer said.

During questioning by police on why he tried to snatch the rifle, Dar said, “Allah ka hukam tha (It was an order from Allah)”, the officer added.

PTI

Srinagar: Security forces on Friday busted a militant hideout belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Based on specific information regarding presence of militants of proscribed outfit JeM in Takiya Gulabagh Tral area of Awantipora, in the south Kashmir district, security forces launched a search operation in the area, a police spokesperson said.

During searches in the area, a hideout of JeM was busted and subsequently destroyed, he said.

The spokesperson said the security forces were able to recover incriminating materials from the hideout.

The incriminating material has been taken into police custody for the purpose of investigation, he said, adding that a case has been registered and investigation into the matter has been initiated.

Commission says while the forces have a right to respond in self-defence, it does not have the right to glamorise killings.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) this week issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) after finding that a tweet by the Kashmir Zone Police on August 21 tried to “glamorise” encounter killings of alleged militants.

The NHRC on Monday asked for a report by October 1 after taking suo motu cognisance in the case based on “Twitter handle of Imtiyaz Hussain”, referring to the Senior Superintendent of Police (security, Kashmir), according to the case proceedings available on the Commission’s website.

Mr. Hussain had quoted the tweet by the Kashmir Zone Police on August 21 about the action that led to the death of four alleged militants. An NHRC source said it was Mr. Hussain’s quote-tweet that was brought to the knowledge of the Commission as being a senior officer he had retweeted and “endorsed” the Kashmir Zone Police’s tweet.

By releasing video of attack, #terrorists want to glamourise #terrorism. But they can’t. We replied by actions & killed 04 top cmdrs, Sajjad @ Haider & FT Taimur Khan @ Abu Usman (seen in said video/attack) & Naseer @ Sad bhai & FT Ali bhai @ Danish within 72 hours.@JmuKmrPolice

— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) August 21, 2020

“By releasing video of attack, #terrorists want to glamourise #terrorism. But they can’t. We replied by actions & killed 04 top cmdrs, Sajjad @ Haider & FT Taimur Khan @ Abu Usman (seen in said video/attack) & Naseer @ Sad bhai & FT Ali bhai @ Danish within 72 hours. @JmuKmrPolice (sic),” the Kashmir Zone Police’s official handle tweeted on August 21.

Quoting the Kashmir Zone Police’s tweet, Mr. Hussain, tweeted: “We work within the parameters of law, with utmost restraint and highest regard for human lives. Outlaws can only be cowards. Befitting reply by us with elimination of entire gang. Jai Hind”.

We work within the parameters of law,with utmost restraint and highest regard for human lives. Outlaws can only be cowards.
Befitting reply by us with elimination of entire gang. Jai Hind 🇮🇳 https://t.co/BD9tAfb6R3

— Imtiyaz Hussain (@hussain_imtiyaz) August 21, 2020

While stating that the Commission understood that “some police officer” had responded to the release of a video of an attack on security forces, the NHRC said: “The officer has this way tried to glamorise the action taken by the police by killing four persons stated to be top commanders of a militant group.”

Victim of Militancy

The NHRC said it understood that the police had been a victim of militancy and that the government and security agencies were trying their best to reduce violent incidents.

“In these circumstances, the forces while doing their lawful duty do have a right to respond in self-defence while they are dealing with an extraordinary situation like an ambush or attack by the miscreants, but it does not give the right to the police and security forces to kill anyone at their will and then glamorise the killing. This is unethical. The Commission is pained to notice that member of a disciplined police force has acted in a sheer reckless manner by posting such infuriating and unwarranted content on social media, which can only spread a message of lawlessness and anarchy,” the NHRC proceedings stated.

The Commission said officers in uniform could not be permitted to act in “such a negligent manner” that could result in a possible violation of human rights.

Guidelines

The NHRC reiterated its 1997 guidelines and 2010 revised guidelines for the States and Union Territories to report all deaths in police action within 48 hours of the incident. It said earlier it had limited jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir, but after the State was made a Union Territory in August 2019 and the relevant provision of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 was repealed, the guidelines were applicable to it.

Earlier this year, the NHRC had written to the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Union Territories, asking them to intimate it of all custodial deaths within 24 hours and encounter deaths in 48 hours.

“As per available records, these four deaths in encounter with the police that occurred in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir have not been reported by the authorities which tantamount to violation of the specific guidelines issued by the Commission. Hence, the DGP is expected to explain the non-compliance while sending the detailed report to the Commission,” it said.

With inputs from The Hindu

The slain militants belonged to the Al badr militant outfit.

“Four militants have been eliminated and one militant has surrendered. Two AKs and three pistols recovered. The joint operation in Shopian is in progress,” army spokesman said.

The slain militants belonged to the Al badr militant outfit.

Earlier in the day, a joint team of Army, SOG and CRPF sealed Kiloora area Shopian following inputs about presence of militants.

“The gunfight started when hiding militants opened fire on the search party,” a police official said.

With inputs from The Hindu